News in Church Issues

Catholics tend to prefer traditional print and television media for their religious news and commentary. They particularly favor their local diocese’s publication, according to a new survey from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. One in five respondents said they watched a religious or spiritual program on television in the last three months.

Whether divorced and remarried Catholics can receive Communion is now firmly back in the spotlight after the 400 clerics backing the Austrian Priests’ Initiative said in their “Appeal to Disobedience” that they would not refuse Communion to remarried divorcees. Christian Wulff, a divorced and remarried Catholic, said he hoped the Church would soften its position on admitting people in his position to the sacraments.

Colleges that have deliberately watered down their Catholic identity, in part to help themselves compete for government aid, now face church pressure to strengthen their religious identity. The choice for Catholic educators is increasingly clear: defend religious liberty and stand up for a strong Catholic identity—or give up the pretense.

Does the proportion of Catholic children in Catholic schools actually matter? According to the latest census data from the Catholic Education Service of England and Wales (CES), Catholic schools in some dioceses, such as Plymouth, are more likely than not to have a majority of non-Catholic pupils.

The Catholic Church's position on capital punishment has evolved considerably over the centuries.And as a result, "it is not a message that is immediately understood -- that there is no room for supporting the death penalty in today's world," said a Vatican's expert on capital punishment and arms control.

The Church in Germany is superbly organized. But behind the structures, is there also a corresponding spiritual strength, the strength of faith in the living God? We must honestly admit that we have more than enough by way of structure but not enough by way of Spirit. I would add: the real crisis facing the Church in the western world is a crisis of faith. If we do not find a way of genuinely renewing our faith, all structural reform will remain ineffective.

Journalist Michael MacLachlan describes his first experience of the new English translation of the Roman Missal in England. Revised version of Missal in English has more than its share of linguistic oddities.

Recognising the seriousness of the crimes detailed in the report, which should never have happened within the Church of Jesus Christ, and wishing to respond to the Irish Government's request, the Holy See, after carefully examining the Cloyne Report and considering the many issues raised, has sought to respond comprehensively.

Correcting the behavior of those gone astray is an essential part of Christian life, said Pope Benedict XVI in his Sunday Angelus address Sept. 4. The Pope made his comments in the light of today’s Gospel in which Jesus suggests that “if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.”

I like what Greg Stier writes about paying attention to Youth Ministry in our different churches. While attending World Youth Day in Madrid and looking at the huge multitude of young believers I came to realise that the youngster with their faith and joy re-present truely the Risen Lord. Christ is young, and so should be the Church. (GG)

A leading bishop has warned that the Church of England must "act now" to secure its role in education amid swift policy change. He expressed concern about support for Church-run academies and the exclusion of RE from the English baccalaureate.

The Church has always stressed that commercial activity is essential to the common good. Her social teaching, past and present, insists that commercial activity should be directed to the common good and not merely to the private profit of property holders

Pope Benedict said there was an “urgency of the reform” to favour the “adaptation of rites to the various cultures, especially in mission territory”. Surely the most important mission territory the European Church must address if it is to have any future is literally on its doorstep – the young of our countries.

by: The Tablet Editorial 21/05/11 in Church Issues, Sun, May 22nd 2011

To be against clericalism is not the same as being anticlerical. Clericalism was dealt a heavy blow by the emphasis in the teaching of Vatican II on the priesthood of all believers and on common baptism. But there is evidence of a clericalist backlash among some of those undergoing training for the priesthood or recently ordained.

by: The Tablet - Editorial 7th May in Church Issues, Tue, May 10th 2011

It would be a mistake harmful to the Church to regard the beatification and eventual canonisation of Pope John Paul II as putting his papacy beyond criticism. None of these factors detracts from the admiration and gratitude that is Pope John Paul II’s due, for a remarkable and even astonishing papacy.

Fr. Matias Augé, Spanish Claretian, said self-styled traditionalists were wrong to “inappropriately and polemically” claim that the Vatican II liturgy was a “rupture with tradition” that now required a “reform of the reform”.

In a rare interview broadcast on Italian television RAI, Pope Benedict XVI answered questions submitted by people from around the world. Touching on topics ranging from Iraq to the Resurrection, the Pope demonstrated his unique capacity to offer profound analysis of political, ethical and theological issues in a simple way.

As the citizens of Japan face the ongoing threat of nuclear contamination and radiation sickness, religious leaders in other parts of the world have been speaking out about the danger of relying on nuclear power to meet energy needs.

Concert pianist, Stephen Hough, writes about becoming a catholic. All those years ago, when I became a Catholic, it was as if I’d walked through a huge, forbidding door. But now I thank God that when people make that journey, the door no longer closes with a forbidding click; it is left swinging open, with the light shining through.

The general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has been tasked with finding ways to revitalise Lent as the penitential season. ....The move comes in a bid to restore public manifestations of Catholicism following the Pope’s visit which was widely hailed as a success.